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Steak and Eggs with Basil-Mint Chiffonade

August 16, 2012

Steak and eggs is a pretty frequent dinner for us. There is nothing better than a rib-eye grilled to perfection and fresh eggs from our chickens fried in a little olive oil. No way to improve upon this quick, easy, delicious dinner.

Or so I thought...

I decided to kick last night's dinner up a notch with some fresh basil and mint. It sounds like an odd combination, but I love both mint and basil and we have loads of both in our garden, so I really wanted to give it a try.

Steak and Eggs with Basil-Mint Chiffonade

(serves two)

~Ingredients~

1 Cup extra-virgin olive oil

10 fresh mint leaves

8 fresh basil leaves

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 rib-eye steaks

~To Make~

Pick fresh basil and mint from your garden and chiffonade.

(Chiffonade, while sounding fancy, is really just the French word meaning 'making rags' and all you are doing is cutting your herbs into thin slices.)

To accomplish this, stack your leaves into a pile and then roll lengthwise into a cigar shape and cut at a 90 degree angle to create long thin strips. Viola! Chiffonade!

Chop the garlic finely and add both the herbs and garlic to the olive oil in a shallow bowl and let sit at room temperature to marinate. Do this several hours before dinner to allow the flavors to meld.

When you are ready to eat, cook your steak. I usually just season the steaks with salt and pepper and 'grill' them in a bit of olive oil and butter in a cast iron frying pan to medium-rare. Remove the steaks from the pan and set in the oil mixture, tent them with foil and let them sit for five minutes, turning once.

Fry two eggs in a bit of olive oil in the same pan, season with salt and pepper and plate.

Plate the steaks and drizzle some of the basil-mint chiffonade marinade over the top. Serve with garlic bread and a nice glass of red wine.

Bon Appetit! as Julia Child used to say.

~Verdict~

The flavor of the fresh herbs really worked with the steak. I am going to try this on lamb next time. I think the addition of basil to my normal mint and garlic marinade will be really complimentary.

i have never actually had steak and eggs but i would imagine that if you had fresh pastured steak and happy eggs from your own chickens it'd be bloody fantastic :) literally - i like my steak med-rare. haha... and what a great way to put some of those seasonal herbs to use! i never know what to do with all my mint and basil!

thank you for taking the time to share with us at The Wednesday Fresh Foods Blog Hop - we hope to see you again this week with more incredible posts! xo, kristy